jasonsmith Report post Posted January 23, 2011 Does anyone know if there is a kind of transfer paper that you can print a design out on your printer. Then lay it down and transfer the design on leather kind of like a temporary tattoo. That way way can tool or whatever you need to do to the leather on the design. Then you can clean the design off and dye the leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawdzilla Report post Posted January 23, 2011 I've been told by a "leather store" employee that I respect that a very fresh ink jet image will transfer to leather. The procedure given was to print your image reversed, put it on damp leather and press it for "a while". I have yet to test this but it sounds like it would work. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jasonsmith Report post Posted January 23, 2011 I was looking around. And it looks like there is some rub on transfer paper you could use. Not sure how easy that would be to take off. Or if it leaves just the color, or also leaves a film when you apply it. But I'd need something clear and exact. So, that would be something like the rub on transfer paper. Or clamping down the template on top of the leather. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Gawdzilla Report post Posted January 23, 2011 I don't know what they cost, but we used to have "opaque projectors" that would project an image of anything on the tray to another surface. You could trace around the image that way. You'll have to shop around to find out if they're in your budget. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ferg Report post Posted January 23, 2011 Does anyone know if there is a kind of transfer paper that you can print a design out on your printer. Then lay it down and transfer the design on leather kind of like a temporary tattoo. That way way can tool or whatever you need to do to the leather on the design. Then you can clean the design off and dye the leather. I have done a lot of transfer work. Everything from water slide decals to sophisticated sublimation transfers and OEM Laser Printer transfers. Think seriously about what it is you are considering. Transferring the image/line drawing will be Ink or Laser "Powder". If you carve the line perfectly you will still have the fragmented line of ink, probably on both sides of the knife cut. There is a reason we use a stylus to transfer a design. Of course, if you are a very good artist you can freehand the design work with your swivel knife. ferg Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jasonsmith Report post Posted January 23, 2011 (edited) I have done a lot of transfer work. Everything from water slide decals to sophisticated sublimation transfers and OEM Laser Printer transfers. Think seriously about what it is you are considering. Transferring the image/line drawing will be Ink or Laser "Powder". If you carve the line perfectly you will still have the fragmented line of ink, probably on both sides of the knife cut. There is a reason we use a stylus to transfer a design. Of course, if you are a very good artist you can freehand the design work with your swivel knife. ferg What I'm doing is cutting slits with my chisel for spots. I've got the design of how I want them arranged and where I'm supposed to cut the slits that I printed off. Which I planned on laminating and clamping on top of the leather. But figured it would be better to put the design actually on the leather instead of trying to punch a large chisel through a piece of plastic which could move. So, the lines would mostly be covered up by the spots. Plus, I plan to dye it black which should hide the ink anyways. I'm sure I could get a deglazer to try and clean off the ink before I dye. I think the main thing is whether the transfer paper would leave behind glue residue when you rub the design on the leather. Edited January 23, 2011 by jasonsmith Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JustKate Report post Posted January 23, 2011 I've been told by a "leather store" employee that I respect that a very fresh ink jet image will transfer to leather. The procedure given was to print your image reversed, put it on damp leather and press it for "a while". I have yet to test this but it sounds like it would work. This does work, except: put it on DRY leather. If you put it on damp leather the ink will bleed and smear all over the place. Putting it on dry leather will give you a nice, crisp, clean line. Also, I use the acetate overhead transparency sheets to make the transfers. Being able to see through them makes it very easy to get very precise placement of the design on your leather. Then you can just wipe the remaining ink off and reuse it multiple times. Think seriously about what it is you are considering. Transferring the image/line drawing will be Ink or Laser "Powder". If you carve the line perfectly you will still have the fragmented line of ink, probably on both sides of the knife cut. If its a clean line, its very easy to bury the ink in a swivel knife cut, and I use a pretty thin blade for any intricate carving I do. Beveling, backgrounding, etc. buries it further, and it also tends to fade as you work along, so by the time you're done you really can't see it at all. Kate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
